The Lost Hellhound
by CuTii3Pii3
Summary: Delia Everwood is taken to Camp Half-Blood and given a quest to retrieve a lost three headed hellhound as monsters return from the Underworld and threaten to destroy the very place she and many others like her have come to consider a home. R&R!


**A/N: HEY GUYS! So I finished reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series recently and I just fell in love. I hope you don't mind me writing a little fic for it? I just couldn't resist!**

_1/I SURVIVE AN EARTHQUAKE_

I'd like to tell you being a demigod is fun.

I'd like to tell you it was every kid's dream.

I'd like to tell you that finding out I was one was the greatest moment of my life.

But then I'd be lying.

Truth is, being a demigod is dangerous, bothersome and downright scary. I'm telling you right now – a demigod is not something you want to be when you grow up. Mostly because that's not something we always get to do. Sure, having a godly parent might seem cool at first, but once you almost die a couple of times, you come to your senses.

I know that just as well – if not, better than any demigod.

My first near death experience came before I even knew who I was.

It all started one day while I was at school. I was storming through the halls, expression promising violence, with a blue slip clutched in my fist.

I had detention that afternoon. Again.

My day had been going okay until then. It was only a week before summer vacation and I was silently celebrating the fact that I'd made it the whole year without getting expelled.

I'd woken up that morning to my mother tickling me like she used to do when I was little, squealing, "Seven more days!" She'd smiled at me with so much pride shining in her clear blue eyes that a lump had formed in my throat as I returned the smile with equal mirth.

I'd strode through the doors with my head held high, determined to make it through the week and make my mother proud. I was in a genuinely good mood.

But, of course, somebody had to go and ruin it.

I honestly didn't know what Mr. Grant, the principal, was getting so worked up about. It wasn't like I'd thrown that dodge ball across the gym with all my might and hit that kid in the head _deliberately._ And, as I'd helpfully pointed out, if he didn't want the students hurting each other, why were we even allowed to play dodge ball at all?

And even if I _had_ done it on purpose, Chad Burke had it coming.

The kid had to be the most repulsive human being I've ever met. He was just so _mean_ and insisted on my making my life as miserable as possible. Unfortunately, he was good at his job.

From the very beginning of the year, Chad had been the bane of my existence. I hadn't really paid much attention to him until one day in our fourth period English class. My teacher, Mr. Pace, had asked me to read aloud to the class. I'd been stumbling over the words and while Mr. Pace had patiently waited until I got the word right and even helped a little with pronunciation, Chad had been laughing with his friends, calling me stupid.

Now, usually when people call me names, it doesn't really matter. Sticks and stones and all that. But my dyslexia was a touchy subject for me. I didn't need an idiot like Chad Burke reminding me that I had mush for brains.

So, on a gut wrenching impulse, I'd picked up the nearest pencil and flung it.

As annoying as he was, though, I had to give it to Chad. The guy was quick. He'd hastily slid out of his chair and ducked behind a desk before the pencil could put out one of his eyes. The entire class fell into dead silence as the pencil whizzed over his head and impaled itself into a wall.

It had only been the second week of school and I'd almost gotten expelled.

If my mom hadn't given Principal Grant and Chad's parents this whole lengthy but passionate speech about verbal abuse, I might've already been in my sixth school in five years. But even though she had stuck up for me, Mom had a pretty intense freak out when I had to tell her what I'd done.

Ever since then, we'd constantly been at each other's throats. I didn't know why but everything about him made me want to rip his hair out. The very thought of him made my face burn red with rage.

I stomped all the way to my locker and glared at the lock accusingly. Opening my locker was always a chore. My anger apparently cleared my head, though, and I got the combination right on the first try.

"You're thirteen now, Delia," I mimicked Principal Grant's words in a high voice, "You're too old for this, Delia. You should know better than this, Delia. Violence is never the answer, Delia."

I shoved a textbook into my bag. "Give me a break."

I slammed my locker shut and let out a startled yelp to find someone standing in the place where the door had just been. I closed my eyes and put a hand over my heart.

"Kenneth," I breathed. I opened my eyes to glare at him. "You scared me!"

He tilted his head to the side. "That's surprising considering I'm not exactly the thing of your nightmares."

He was right. Kenneth was about my height – which really wasn't so tall at all – with curly dark hair, wide blue eyes and a gangly build. More than that, Kenneth just exuded a vibe of peace and calm that made it hard – hard_er_ – to be intimidated by him. Sometimes I wonder how we'd come to be so close. His docile demeanor was the exact opposite of my volatile manner.

He gave me a quick once over and frowned, "What's your problem?"

"My _problem_ is – "

"Yo, Bubble Brain!"

I gritted my teeth. "_That_."

Kenneth glanced over my shoulder before fixing me with a warning look. "Don't do anything –"

"Stupid?" I snapped. I waved the detention slip in his face. "Already done."

I turned around to find Chad Burke smirking at me, Sam Bradshaw standing firmly at his side as always. I was suddenly very tired.

"What do you want?" I sighed.

He smiled. "I wanted to apologize."

I stared at him, then looked up at the roof, fully expecting the sky to fall through. When nothing happened, I looked at Chad again, noticing the mocking glint in his eyes for the first time.

My anger spiked and I felt a painful jab between my eyes at the same time. "_Ow_," I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose, "You're giving me a headache, Chad. I need a Tylenol."

"I thought you knew. There's no pill to cure stupidity."

"What do you want?" I repeated in a snarl. Chad put his hands up in surrender.

"Seriously! I want to apologize, Delia. Really, I know you didn't really mean to throw that ball at me. Besides, I know how hard it is for you with your disability and all. What is it again…Clue Deficit Disorder?"

Lame joke, I knew.

But that was just too close to the truth.

With a wild battle cry, I hurled myself forward, prepared to claw Chad's eyes out and finish what I'd started ten months before. I didn't get too far before Kenneth caught me around the waist, yelling at me to stop.

The hallway erupted in chaos. My two friends, Alyson and Courtney, were suddenly behind me, grabbing my flailing legs and alternating between trying to calm me and shouting accusing insults at a furious Chad. A large group of kids had circled around us and were now shouting with the rest of us, some of them egging us on while other, smarter kids were starting to panic, yelling the ceiling was cracking.

Among them were Alyson and Courtney.

"What is that?" Courtney shouted over the noise.

Alyson shouted back, "The ground is shaking!"

I stilled myself and felt my heart beat out a fearful rhythm as I realized she was right. Suddenly, a legion of teachers surged down the hall, yelling at us to keep calm and evacuate in an orderly fashion.

So of course everyone freaked out and did the exact opposite.

I was suddenly lost in a mass of people rushing to the exit. I whipped my head around when I felt a hand grip mine and almost collapsed in relief when I saw it was Kenneth.

"Thank God!"

"Gods!" he said.

"What?"

He didn't answer. "Come on!"

"Wait!" I stopped and another torrent of kids had to part to avoid trampling us both. "What about Aly and Courtney?"

He opened his mouth to answer but abruptly stiffened. He cast a look around, as if looking for danger.

"They'll be fine," he said, dragging me to the door and hustling me down the steps. A new note of urgency had entered his voice. "We've gotta get you out of here."

I was too spooked to argue. As we reached the bottom of the steps, Kenneth yanked on my hand and began towing me down the block, away from the teachers trying to calm the crowd. Mrs. Callahan, my hateful math teacher, spotted us just before we turned the corner.

"You two! Get back here!" I looked behind me.

"Kenneth!"

"Just run!"

I was feeling light-headed. It would be just my luck to pass out in the middle of a massive earthquake.

Still, anyone would be scared witless when ever-serene Kenneth was practically white-haired with terror. We tore down the block, almost falling several times as the ground trembled violently beneath our feet. People were running in a mass panic through the streets. It seemed like we'd been running forever when I caught sight of a familiar blonde woman standing in front of a small, silver car.

"Mom!" I cried.

Charlotte Everwood whipped around and I saw a look of sheer relief cross her features before she looked at Kenneth and her eyes filled with tears. She didn't say a word as she opened the door and we both dove into the back seat. Mom quickly went to the other side and dropped into the front seat.

Her watery blue eyes met Kenneth's in the rear view mirror as she started the engine and skidded off.

"Now?" she asked shakily. Kenneth nodded solemnly.

"Now."

"Kenneth –"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I huffed, still trying to catch my breath, "You two _know_ each other?"

Kenneth and my mom exchanged a look which – even among random earthquakes and impromptu getaways – was pretty weird.

Kenneth said, "I –"

"Wait," my mother interrupted, "What is this? Why is this happening?"

"It's just an earthquake, Ms. Everwood. Not anything – you know, _godly_."

"Then why do I have to send her away?" she suddenly wailed miserably. I scowled because I didn't understand a word they were talking about.

"They're here," Kenneth said, "They know."

My mom turned pale as a sheet as she swerved around an abandoned car in the middle of the road. She shook her head. A tear trailed down her cheek.

"It's too soon," she whispered.

"It's never too soon," Kenneth said grimly.

"WHAT is going ON?" I yelled. The two of them were really starting to scare me. My knees were bouncing wildly and I had a sudden impulsive urge to jump through the window and make a run for it, as if my own two feet could take me farther away faster than this car could.

Mom swiped at her cheek. "Dee, I have to tell you something," she sniffed, "I'm sending you to camp."

I gaped at her. "We're escaping an _earthquake_ and you're telling me you're sending me to camp _now_?"

"Delia, we're escaping much more than just an earthquake here. And this is no ordinary camp. You're not safe anymore, honey, but the camp will protect you," she said in the same voice she'd used to explain to me that my hamster was in a 'better place' when I was five. Her voice was getting thicker with every word. " You'll make friends and learn to defend yourself. And - and I'm so sorry, sweetheart. Your father wanted me to send you earlier but I just couldn't let you go."

I continued to gape. "Did you just say my father?"

My mother didn't say a whole lot about my father. Whenever I asked her, she always told me the same thing; that he was a good, kind man and that I looked a lot like him. She told me that he was there when I was born and that he loved me but eventually he had to leave. She never told me why and I never asked because I knew it would make her cry.

"I never talked to you much about your father because I knew that if I talked enough, I'd slip up and end up telling you something I didn't want you to know yet," she continued, as if reading my mind, "Everything I said was true – he truly did love you. But staying around to watch you grow up was dangerous for both of us."

I shook my head, trying to make sense of – of anything. "Mom, I don't understand."

She let out a short puff of breath, like she was about to hyperventilate. She had a sort of broken look in her eyes, as if she was just realizing she had jumped off a cliff and there was no turning back.

"Delia," she whispered. I had to lean forward to hear her over the shattering of glass and the groaning of falling buildings. "Your father, he was a g –"

She never got to finish.

Kenneth suddenly shouted, "LOOK OUT!"

Before I even got the chance to flinch as my eardrums exploded from his volume, my mother let out a piercing scream and swerved wildly to avoid something I couldn't see because I was sent tumbling to the ground. The windows darkened and I got a glimpse of a grotesque face wearing an evil smile before we were suddenly airborne.

**A/N: This first chapter was a little rough, I think, but maybe it'll flow better as the story progresses. I'd love _love LOVE_ ****it if you would leave a review. Just a little one? Please?**

**Hope you enjoyed!**

**Your CuTii3Pii3 ;)**


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